Program Overview
The PhD program in Information Systems at UMass Amherst equips students for academic careers in research and teaching. Emphasizing a theory-based approach, the program aims to develop outstanding researchers who produce impactful studies at the intersection of information systems, business, and society. The program offers a comprehensive curriculum, teaching requirements, and research opportunities, preparing students for the competitive academic job market.
Program Outline
The program emphasizes a theory-inspired and practice-engaged approach to research, aiming to understand how individuals, organizations, and communities develop, design, use, and are affected by information systems. The program's objectives include:
- Developing outstanding researchers and teachers: The program aims to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to make substantive contributions to scholarship and knowledge creation.
- Investigating relevant and interesting IS phenomena: Students are encouraged to explore real-world IS problems grounded in the IS discipline, fostering intellectual curiosity, rigor, critical thinking, and creativity.
- Producing research that makes a difference: The program focuses on research that can impact theory, practice, and policymaking, targeting the intersection of IS implementation, design, and use with business and societal domains.
- Preparing students for the IS academic job market: The program offers comprehensive preparation for the academic job market, including exposure to the IS research community through international conferences and on-campus research talks.
Outline:
The PhD program in Information Systems is a 4-5 year program, typically starting in the fall semester. The program structure includes:
- Coursework: Students must complete 45 credits of coursework, including foundational knowledge in Information Systems and Research Methods. This is followed by minor and elective courses.
- Core Exam: A first-year core exam (summer paper) is required.
- Comprehensive Examination: A comprehensive examination is typically taken after completing the second year.
- Teaching Requirement: Students must complete a 3-course teaching requirement.
- Dissertation: The program culminates in a dissertation.
Areas of Study:
Research in Information Systems draws from various fields, including:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Computer Science
- Marketing
- Management
- Sociology Topics of study include:
- Theories and concepts in the IS discipline
- Research methods (experiments, surveys, big data analysis, statistics, econometrics)
- Domains in the IS discipline (e.g., Human-computer interaction, post-adoptive use, negative psychological, behavioral, and societal effects of IS, algorithmic work, artificial intelligence and related concepts, social media driven phenomenon, and online communities)
- Theories in psychology, management, and sociology
Assessment:
The program utilizes various assessment methods, including:
- Core Exam (summer paper)
- Comprehensive Examination
- Dissertation
- Teaching evaluations
Teaching:
The program provides teaching instruction and opportunities to support student development as world-class business instructors.
Careers:
The PhD in Information Systems prepares students for an academic career in scholarly research and university-level teaching.
Other:
The program offers a unique group of world-class faculty who conduct research in various areas, including:
- Human-computer interaction; decision support systems and online decision-making
- Website design and signaling; Online consumer impulsiveness; B2C electronic commerce strategy
- Social media affordances; online reviews; ranking algorithms
- Societal impacts such as social media driven online activism and social protest
- Algorithms, AI, bias, and transparency
- IS use and post-adoptive cognitions, emotions, and behaviors (both negative and positive)
- Big data analytics use and strategy
- IS and wellbeing
- Healthcare systems implementation and use The program also provides:
- Collaborative and creative intellectual community: The program fosters a supportive environment for doctoral student scholarly development.
- Individual attention from multiple faculty members: Students receive individual support from faculty members in their early research endeavors and multiple publication opportunities.
- Exposure to the IS research community: The program supports student participation in international conferences (AMCIS, ICIS, HICSS, ECIS, etc.) and on-campus research talks.
